The whizzing shuttle kept the audience hooked to the action at the senior State ranking badminton tournament, which concluded here on Sunday.
The four-day tournament, organised by Badminton Association of Tiruchi (BAT) at its indoor courts at Anna Nagar in Thennur, attracted over 200 shuttlers from different parts of the State. Singles and doubles events for men and women, and mixed doubles event were part of the tourney.
“The idea behind hosting such tournaments featuring quality players is to inspire youngsters of the district. The response from the audience was also good,” said R. Rajkumar, secretary, BAT.
More than 20 players from Tiruchi took part in the tourney with Sakthi Maheswari making it to the women’s singles semifinals.
“Of late, players from Tiruchi have been doing well in State-level tournaments. The game’s popularity is also growing at a rapid pace in the district,” Mr. Rajkumar said, adding that BAT will work hard to identify and nurture talent.
Velavan of Chennai bagged the men’s singles title. He then teamed up with Aditya Elango of Chennai to win the doubles title.
Gokulalakshmi of Virudhunagar won the women’s title. Suneri of Chennai won the women’s doubles title partnering Harshini of Virudhunagar.
Suneri also bagged the mixed doubles title teaming up with Vijay Aloysius of Chennai.
At the valediction, N.R. Sivapathi, Minister for School Education, Sports and Youth Welfare, gave away the prizes in the presence of R. Manoharan, MLA; P. Kalaiselvan, District Sports Officer; A.Ramesh, joint secretary, Tamil Nadu Badminton Association; and A. Shanmugam, vice-president, BAT.
